Going on nine years of coaching basketball, former Shelbyville assistant Tyler Theising has accepted the ultimate job – a head coaching position. Theising was with the Golden Bears for the last three years. The first year, he was the junior varsity coach. He spent the last two seasons as a varsity assistant under head coach Ryan Mack.

Theising will lead the South Ripley boys' basketball team this upcoming season. He will also teach U.S. History at the school.

Theising's resume helped land him the job.

Beginning his coaching journey, Theising coached at Milan for four years – it's where he got his feet in the door. Then he coached at East Central for a year. After graduating from Northern Kentucky University, he landed his first coaching and teaching job as a Shelbyville Golden Bear.

As Theising prepares to take a step from being a Golden Bear to a Raider, he reflected on what he learned at Shelbyville.

“I think wherever you are you'll learn something new,” Theising said. “Everyone has different coaching styles. Ryan Mack is a more relaxed coach I think in the way he's a players coach, basically. He lets the guys play, he gives them more of a sense of freedom.”

Mack is excited for Theising. Over the years, Theising has become more than just a coach – he's become a very good friend.

“I'm happy for him,” said Mack. “I hope all of my assistant coaches want to one day become a head coach – always strive for more. Tyler has been great these last three years for Shelbyville. He's very good at preparation and scouting. I love giving my assistants more latitude, more responsibilities. For the last two years, he's called our defense. He is definitely ready to become a head coach.”

Theising comes from the town of Sunman, which can be found about ten minutes from Batesville. After a South Ripley School Board meeting halfway through June, he was granted the head coaching position – which he ultimately didn't even apply for.

“It's kind of funny,” said Theising. “I was always kind of looking, especially in that area because my wife and I are from around there. I didn't apply to them, they actually contacted me. Their athletic director, Jeff Gorrell, is actually from Shelby County (Southwestern graduate and former Waldron coach) and had asked around about me. After that, it just kind of felt like destiny.”

After the school board meeting, Theising immediately started his new position.

“I had about two weeks in June, and we had some workouts,” he said. “It's hard to set up a practice plan right now, but we just worked on fundamentals like shooting and dribbling.”

South Ripley is a member of the Ohio River Valley Conference – a league Theising is very familiar with after having coached at Milan. Besides Milan, other schools in the conference include Southwestern, Rising Sun, Jac-Cen-Del, Switzerland County and Shawe Memorial.

“I am definitely fortunate. When I coached Milan I do know it's competitive,” said Theising. “I know Rising Sun has hired a new coach, and I know Shawe did too. It's a very competitive conference and everyone's close together, so there's definitely a lot of rivalries, which makes for a great atmosphere.”

Last year, South Ripley finished its season 7-17 and 3-3 in conference play.

“I'm a big believer in not judging success by wins and losses,” said Theising. “It's all about if you've improved. For me, I'm really big about sectionals. That's when you should be at your best – when sectionals roll around.”

Theising is excited to start his journey at South Ripley.

“I think it's going to be great,” he said. “They're a 2A school with no football, where as Milan was a 2A school with football. So when I was at Milan, I maybe got the guys two weeks before basketball season began. With South Ripley, it's different. Basketball is their sport. I think that really helps.”

Looking ahead to the upcoming season, Theising admits he has a young team.

“They're very young,” he said. “Sophomores make up my main core, and I'm really interested to see what could happen.”

A lot of of people handle change differently, but for Theising it's keeping him going.

“Yeah a lot of people do handle change differently,” he said. “I'm excited. I don't know how it'll go, but I'm very excited. Am I nervous? Of course, but I'm excited for the opportunity. There's always the idea of being afraid to fail in the back of my head, but that's just the motivation to keep me moving forward.”

Theising and wife will be welcoming their second child in August as they begin this new journey. They undoubtedly have the support of Shelby County and Golden Bear Nation behind them as Theising prepares to become a Raider.

Katrina Branson is a Sports writer for The Shelbyville News. Follow Katrina on Twitter @k_b527.